Best and worst performing London-listed funds in April – QuotedData

(Alliance News) – China- and commodity-focused investment funds were among the star performers in April, according to the monthly winners and losers list from QuotedData, published on Wednesday.

A surging gold price last month helped Golden Prospect Precious Metals Ltd shine brightest, while Chelverton UK Dividend Trust PLC also impressed, shaking off a hot UK inflation reading. The investor backs “mid to small-cap companies exclusively outside the FTSE 100”.

Data from the Office for National Statistics last month had shown that consumer price inflation ebbed to 3.2% in March, from 3.4% in February. This was more inflation than the 3.1% expected, however.

“It was somewhat surprising to see the rate sensitive UK Smaller Companies sector rally on the back of April’s inflation data, which came in slightly hotter than expected, although dovish commentary from the Bank of England helped boost sentiment. Importantly, inflation continues to trend downward toward the 2% target,” QuotedData said.

“Chinese shares lead the list of best performers in April, although they remain deeply depressed with the world’s second largest economy still struggling with a range of long-standing structural issues.”

Hipgnosis Songs Fund, which has had a tumultuous time of late, saw a share price surge on takeover interest. Last month, the music royalty investment company agreed to a USD1.40 billion cash takeover from Alchemy Copyrights, which trades as Concord. Later in April, it backed a rival bid from Blackstone Inc worth USD1.50 billion.

The saga did not end there. Concord then upped its bid to USD1.51 billion, before the bidding war reached a crescendo, with Blackstone offering USD1.57 billion. Concord decided against sweetening its bid and said earlier this month that its offer was final.

The following were the best and worst performing London-listed investment companies in April, excluding trusts with market capitalisations below GBP15 million:

Five best performing funds in NAV terms with % change:

Golden Prospect Precious Metals 15.4

Rockwood Strategic PLC 12.8

JPMorgan China Growth & Income PLC 10.5

abrdn New India Investment Trust PLC 8.7

Chelverton UK Dividend Trust 8.5

Five worst performing funds in NAV terms with % change:

Bellevue Healthcare Trust PLC (9.7)

Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon PLC (8.5)

International Biotechnology Trust PLC (7.9)

Vietnam Enterprise Investments Ltd (7.4)

Martin Currie Global Portfolio Trust PLC (6.8)

Five best performing funds in price terms with % change:

Hipgnosis Songs Fund 50.7

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund PLC 36.4

Macau Property Opportunities Fund Ltd 32.1

Seraphim Space Investment Trust PLC 23.2

EPE Special Opportunities Ltd 19.3

Five worst performing funds in price terms with % change:

Asian Energy Impact Trust PLC (15.9)

Schroder British Opportunities Trust PLC (10.7)

Bellevue Healthcare Trust (9.3)

Gulf Investment Fund PLC (8.9)

Custodian Property Income REIT PLC (8.8)

Source: QuotedData. Full details at http://www.quoteddata.com